Raw sugar prices ease, cocoa and coffee edge up

• Raw sugar futures on ICE were slightly lower on Thursday with the market consolidating just below the prior session's 1-1/2 month high while cocoa and coffee prices moved higher.
• "Whether producers and traders will retain their urgency to sell is an open question. And with that this recovery in sugar prices may yet accelerate,"

LONDON: Raw sugar futures on ICE were slightly lower on Thursday with the market consolidating just below the prior session's 1-1/2 month high while cocoa and coffee prices moved higher.

SUGAR

March raw sugar was down 0.04 cent, or 0.3pc, at 12.88 cents per lb by 1119 GMT. The contract peaked at 12.93 cents on Wednesday, its highest since Aug. 12.

Dealers said producer selling had helped to stall the recent run-up in prices fuelled by investor short covering against a backdrop of tightening supplies, with the global market seen shifting into deficit in 2019/20.

"We are a little surprised by a lack of patience in the producer and trader sales," Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a note, adding investors still need to do a lot of buying to cover their net short position.

"Whether producers and traders will retain their urgency to sell is an open question. And with that this recovery in sugar prices may yet accelerate," he added.

December white sugar was up $1.50, or 0.4pc, at $344.50 a tonne.

COCOA

December New York cocoa was up $9, or 0.4pc, at $2,491 a tonne.

Dealers said the market was underpinned by the prospect of a global deficit in the 2019/20 season, which began on Tuesday, although production in top grower Ivory Coast may remain close to record levels.

Europe's third-quarter cocoa grind is expected to be published on Oct. 16 with the focus on whether there will be any recovery after a weak second quarter, which saw a year-on-year decline of 3.2 percent.

March London cocoa was up 5 pounds, or 0.3pc, at 1,893 pounds a tonne.

COFFEE

December arabica coffee rose 0.35 cents, or 0.35pc, to $1.0095 per lb.

November robusta coffee was up $6, or 0.5pc, at $1,310 a tonne.

Coffee trading in Vietnam remained lacklustre this week as stockpiles dwindled and supply from the new season is unlikely to be available in around a month.